Reviews by MJR:

Appearance: Pours a dark garnet color with a bit of chill haze. A light tan head starts medium-sized, but shrinks to a small cap. This is easily the darkest amber I've ever laid eyes on...

Smell: Pronounced grain aroma with a touch of hops. There's a bit of a fruity smell, as well as a slight roasted one.

Taste: Starts out with an assertive hop flavor and moves to a semi-sweet malt flavor, which finishes with a bit of fruit and caramel. There's a roasted flavor in there from start to finish. Interesting to taste this in an amber ale... The hops in this brew come across as flavor instead of bitterness...I like that.

More User Reviews:

US Pint Can from Good Spirits Co, Glasgow (£3.80):I was quite disappointed with this one after expecting a lot more from it given the reviews it gets here & the fact that it is a Rogue beer but it failed to deliver for me with the taste being a particular let down. There was a decent enough malt taste to the beer but I had been expecting more hops to it as well & just more flavour really. At first I feared the can was past its best but when I checked the date it was a mere couple of months old so that doesn't seem to be the problem, it just seems like this beer wasn't for me and its not one I'll go back to I'm afraid.

Appearance: Pours a darker copper color. The head is a finger high, with a pale yellow shade. The texture is very thick (even for an amber ale), though the retention isn't the best. A consistent ring of lacing is left on the glass. (3.75)

Smell: The aroma is redolent of your typical amber ale. Light Cascade hoppiness (flowers, lime, and minor grapefruit) is balanced by the healthy caramel-laden backbone. Really, it doesn't smell bad at all, just a bit unexciting. Just like I said, it's a standard (albeit well-done) amber ale. (3.25)

Taste: Again, no surprises here. It starts off with light hints of grapefruit and piny hops, while the finish is fairly malty. I'm getting vague vanilla cream flavors on the back end that are pretty nice. These elements strike a nice balance, though personally I could use a bit more hoppiness. Rogue's sometimes problematic yeast strain does a good job of staying in the background here. Nothing special, but it works acceptably. (3)

Mouthfeel: I don't think this is dry enough - while the hop/malt balance in the taste is nice, some of the maltiness lingers far too strongly. Ergo, it's not terribly easy to drink. Carbonation is slightly on the low side, making it seem a tad syrupy. (2.75)

Overall: Before drinking this, I had Rogue's Yellow Snow IPA...incidentally, it tasted exactly like eating yellow snow, so I dumped it. This, though, is far superior. Sure, it's just another average amber ale, but I'd gladly drink the whole bottle of this over just a couple ounces of the aptly named former beer. So...uh...um, good job, Rogue. (3)

Very nice dark red color,poured well with nice retaining head.Smelled very malty sweet hith floral hop in there as well.Nice spicey malt flvor with a hop punch in the end.Probably my favorite of all the Rogue ales I have tried along with the Shakespeare Stout.

Taste  This one has a sense of their Brutal Bitter, but the hops are more complex and the ale more balanced. The firm malt balance stands strong, while the amazing hop flavor finishes with s slight orange sweetness. Excellent brew.

Mouthfeel  Lightly carbonated and almost full-bodied, this one is exceptionally refreshing.

Drinkability  A terrific All-American Amber/Red  very similar to the St Rogue Red.

A: A deep amber poured into a Brooklyn pint glass, offering a substantial and stamina filled head. The carbonation was wildly active.

S: Sweet caramel malts and mild undertones of hop and alcohol. The overall aromas of malt blended with sugar was quite satisfying in itself.

T: Wow! Never had such a comlex amber. The hop, malt, alcohol, balance is fantastic. The sweetness stays with the pallet throughout while the hop bitterness is held exclusively for the end. The malty flavors are caramel sugary with a little roast/burnt flavor in there.

M/D: I drank a growler by myself. F'n great. Smooth and interesting in all of its characteritics. A best buy of this summer.

A careful pour into a pint glass produced a good cream colored head with decent lacing after several minutes. The aroma was fantastic with floral hops. Mouthfeel was perfect with an immediate balance of hops and malt, but the hops quickly taking over as they linger after a clean dry finish.

A great hoppy brew, this one is really good. I like the full bodied nature of this ale and the abundant presence of hops. I especially like the hops. In reading the description from the website, I'm not sure where the "coffee" description came from as I really didn't get any sense of coffee in the brew. What I did get was a very satisfying, full bodied, clean tasting, hoppy brew that I could drink with regularity. Fantastic.

A - Deep amber approaching brown. Nice and clear with moderate to low carbonation. Not a big head, fades to a covering that lasts throughout.

S - Mostly sweet caramel and toffee with a bit of roasted malt. A little PNW hop aroma to complement the malt.

T - Nice caramel and toffee from the crystal malt, not overdone so it isn't cloying. Definitely malt forward but the sweetness is countered by a nice hop bitterness without much flavor. Ends with the typical Pacman yeast signature flavor. I noted a little metallic twang at the end that was not entirely pleasing, but it was faint.

M - Very nice feel from a beer that is not very big. Has a creaminess to it even though it is not "thick". Enough residual sugars left over to give it a great mouthfeel without being too sweet.

D - Rogue is very good and making drinkable beers. Like Dead Guy this is just a superbly balanced beer that is not too heavy, malty, hoppy, or alcohol filled that it exercises your taste buds or liver too much. Great beer that lots of people enjoy.

Quite a good beer. This one poured a very ruby red/brownish color with a nice bit of foam that stayed around for the whole glass full. The smell was light but plesant with a light hop aroma and a dryness to it that was very appealing. The flavor was session quality all the way with a near perfect balance of bitterness and sweetness. The malt was not cloying at all but it was very toasty and the hops were not overy bitter but they made there presence known. The beer also has a bone-dry aftertaste that just makes you grab another sip. Excelent stuff!

Pours a very dark reddish amber color. Some lacing, but it's pretty thin. Smells of caramel and freshly baked bread. Tastes of caramelly malt (it actually tastes a bit like Dead Guy), with a nice bitterness that separates it from Dead Guy.

*I purchased the "Rogue Sea Otter Amber Ale" in a 22oz bottle. Supposedly the Sea Otter Ale & the American Amber are the same thing, as when I went to review the S.O.A.A., I was directed to the American Amber page.*

Wow, this is a damn fine amber ale. The bottle text describes it as a "spicy, playful ale with a distinct character." I don't know about 'playful,' but I will agree with spicy & distinct.

Hops are very prevalent in this amber ale. That kind of took me off guard, since I have never really had an overly hoppy amber ale. I love all hops big & small, though, so extra points for that aspect. I would have to say the hops were more of the flavoring kind than the bittering kind. Very nice.

The Sea Otter Amber ale is very full and rich, much like all the other offerings I have had from Rogue. Lots of body & flavor. All 9 ingredients are actually listed on the side of the bottle, including cascade & kent golding hops, and top fermenting pacman yeast.

Possibly my favorite thing about Rogue Sea Otter Amber Ale is that proceeds from the sale of it "support the Oregon coast aquarium and its mission to expand our understanding of the oceans" (Quoted from the text on the bottle). Extra points for drinkability here, since doing so will benefit something besides your taste buds.

Pours a deep red color with a small head. Aroma is hops with some malts and pine. Starts slightly sweet wth some roasty malts and finishes with floral bitters. Typical amber ale taste. Mouthfeel is good, very creamy. A good amber ale, but ultimately not very memorable.

Presentation: 22 oz brown bomber with a silk screen painted on label, and oxygen cap is fitted for a longer shelf life. No freshness date to be found.

Appearance: Dark and tawny amber in colour with a light tan lace that does not want to recede.

Smell: Rich caramel and toffee aromas mingle with a whiff of pungent hop.

Taste: Smooth mouthfeel and medium bodied with a battle between malt and hops. On one side is the malt with its deep caramel and roasted malt flavour from the highly kilned crystal malt. Then there is the hops ... a nice blend of Cascade and Kent Goldings to give this brew the ying for the yang in bitterness and flavour. The after taste is of fading roasted malt and some residual sweetness.

Notes: This brew could also be considered as a brown ale due to its deep colour and roasted flavours. Great cold season session brew with a hot pot of beef stew.